You’ve heard that first impressions are everything. It turns out your home is no different. You’ve probably also noticed that people often say how lovely your home is within seconds of entering it. That’s because the general feeling of a home isn’t always found by examining every little detail. In fact, it’s often entirely due to the immediate atmosphere you experience when first entering.
From people to houses, first impressions mean a lot. The main entryway is the house equivalent of a handshake or a hug. Basically – a good entryway should fulfil the same purpose as a good doorman. No, it won’t wish you a good evening, but it should be welcoming (and take your coat for you).
But what if I don’t have a dedicated Main Entry?
Because more homes have become both compact and open-planned, there’s a decent chance that you don’t have a dedicated entrance room. The good news is “faking” one is actually pretty simple.
Coat hangers and shoe racks have become synonymous with them, so setting up a station for your garments will naturally designate that area as the main entrance. You can also use the old tried and true methods of putting up a tactical bookcase in lieu of walls or laying down a rug to “zone” your entranceway too.
Style & Utility
Right, now that we’ve established that anyone can have a dedicated entryway, it’s time for the decorating (yay).
As touched upon earlier, a good entranceway should “welcome” people into your home. This is achieved by offering people a place to unload their excess items (and we all know how good that feels after a long day), and that it will serve as an “intro” to the rest of your house.
So aside from having adequate facilities to hang coats and place shoes, you also want to decorate it in harmony with the rest of your home. This isn’t a complicated process, just make sure your decorations/fittings/furniture are stylistically in line with the ones throughout the rest of your house.
Personal Touches
–If you’re an extra-mile type, you can also add a few extra features, such as a nice picture frame, a plant, or even a sentimental message board (although in the interest of avoiding cliches, we’d caution against “live, laugh, love”). It’s these subtle embellishments that help make you and your guest feel even more welcome when first coming through the door.
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